Book reviews and personal rants

Month: September 2014

“A lover without indiscretion is no lover at all. Circumspection and devotion are a contradiction in terms.”

Thomas Hardy

Many of you literature geeks out there will be familiar with Thomas Hardy’s works both as a poet and an author. Far from the Madding Crowd was Hardy’s fourth novel and his first literary success published in 1874 in the Corn Hill magazine. The novel is set in the bucolic surroundings of south west England that Hardy esteemed so highly and lived in during most of his life. His novels reflect his desire to preserve the agricultural lifestyle that was vanishing due to industrialisation in the late 1800s with detailed descriptions of farming practices, and the changing seasons influencing nature, people and livestock. This novel feels like Hardy’s personal reflection on how life was, and would never be again (hence the book’s name).

But don’t think this novel serves just as a nostalgic look at rural life- it is far more than that. Like many of Hardy’s works this novel deals with complicated characters and tragedy. The story follows Bathsheba Everdene, a beautiful young woman that inherits her Uncle’s farm in Weatherbury and defies the neighbours by taking it over single-handedly. During the novel Bathsheba encounters three suitors: trustworthy Gabriel Oak, obsessive Boldwood, and arrogant Sergeant Troy. Gabriel Oak is a young farmer whom Bathsheba meets before her Uncle’s death. He loses his farm in an accident and ends up her shepherd at Weatherbury. Boldwood is a neighbouring middle-aged farmer misled by her flirtatious actions into forming a firm attachment. And Troy is an unconventional and vain Sergeant that charms Bathsheba with his wit and good looks.

Unlike many female characters of the period Bathsheba is neither a saint nor a sinner. Hardy was often accused of being a misogynist for portraying his female characters with negative characteristics, however I found it quite refreshing to read a female character unrestricted by gendered binaries. Bathsheba is vain and superficial, with more interest in her good looks and suitors than her farm and farm workers. YET she is intelligent and able to deal well with the many crises that affect her.

Hardy also shows the inequality women face in courtship and marriage through her difficulty keeping her identity and independence in a male dominated society.

“It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.” Bathesda Evergreen. (390)

This book won’t be to everyone’s tastes but is food for thought. It depicts the destructive force of romantic love and the facets of men’s love of women. Far from the Madding Crowd is not a happy novel, but it shows the power of romantic attachment and the importance of reciprocated love in marriage.

“And at home by the fire, whenever you look up there I shall be— and whenever I look up, there will be you… ‘(38)

Alas, summer has ended but autumn is starting and I wait with anticipation for the joys of warm jumpers, hot cups of tea, falling leaves and conkers.

This year is the hundred-year anniversary of Tove Jansson’s birthday. A Swedish speaking Finnish author and illustrator She is the world-renowned author of the Moomin stories, and is not recognised for her novels for adults particularly.

Anyone fascinated in the changing of the seasons would do well to read Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book, originallypublished in the 1970s and based loosely on Tove’s own experiences of life in the isles. A beautifully understated book about nothing, and everything.

‘it was just the same long summer, always, and everything lived and grew at its own pace’ (41)

It is a very simple story with two main characters and barely any plot- it is simply about the everyday happenings of a grandmother and her six-year old granddaughter on an island in the gulf of Finland. Each chapter is split into snapshots of their lives together exploring the island, playing in the sea and witnessing the changing seasons together. But don’t let the novel’s simplicity put you off for underneath the charming descriptions of nature are real important discussions on love, death and family told through the voices of a naive little girl and her wise artistic grandmother.

Having been to Finland this summer and seen the beautiful islands of Finland I was really intrigued to read Tove’s portrayal of the Finnish isles, and I recommend this to anyone interested in travel, the seasons and rediscovering the pleasures of reading.

More information on her works can be found here: http://www.tove100.com/